Prosecutors are stepping up their investigations into election law violations after the general election Wednesday.

Gwangju prosecutors said they would summon independent lawmaker-elect Park Joo-sun of a Gwangju constituency as one of his campaign aides allegedly paid a broker for gathering electoral voters.

“We have enough evidence to prove the allegation. We will notify Park of summons as early as next week,” a prosecutor told a local daily Thursday.

Prosecutors also raided campaign offices of three lawmakers-elect under suspicion of election law violations.

Investigators confiscated election-related documents, computers and accounting books. The three are Lee Jae-gyoon of the ruling Saenuri Party who won in a Busan constituency, Kim Geun-tae of Saenuri in Buyeo and Won Hye-young of the main opposition Democratic United Party in Bucheon.

The three lawmakers-elect are suspected of giving gifts to voters or paying financial rewards to campaign volunteers.

According to the prosecution, election law violation complaints were filed against 79 lawmakers-elect as of April 11. Of them, 73 are under investigation, 5 unindicted and 1 indicted. In the last parliamentary election, 37 lawmakers-elect were charged with election law violations. Law enforcement authorities expect the number to rise.

Lawmakers-elect can be deprived of their seat if they are fined 1 million won ($880) or more, or if their spouse, other family members or campaign workers are fined 3 million won or more.

“As campaigns were becoming overheated, candidates lodged complaints against one another,” a prosecution official said.

A total of 1,096 persons were charged with election law violations ahead of the April 11 general elections. The figure is up 28 percent from the last election. Most of the cases involve slander and spreading false information (32.2 percent) and giving gifts (30.5 percent), according to the prosecutors’ office.

If many election results are invalidated through trials, by-elections to fill the vacated seats will likely be held along with the presidential election on Dec. 19, this year.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)